On Monday morning, fighting for her life at a Delhi hospital, a 23-year-old victim of a brutal gang rape in New Delhi last week was unaware that at the heart of New Delhi in Jantar Mantar, a protest ground, a crowd massed in her defense, demanding justice. A week earlier, the 23-year-old, whose name has been withheld by authorities, had been gang-raped and beaten mercilessly with an iron rod and then thrown from a moving bus. The police arrested four suspects, and a trial is set to begin soon.

The horrific rape, which has dominated Indian newspapers, airwaves and television sets, has united the youth of the country in an unprecedented manner. A wave of protests and subsequent violence in the past week disrupted Parliament and brought New Delhi to a standstill for almost three days. While some of India’s more well-known agent provocateurs are in on the act, including anticorruption crusader (and now chief of the Aam Aadmi political party) Arvind Kejriwal, the unrest remains largely an expression of popular anger and exasperation. The young protesters are demanding the death penalty for the rapists and are furious at a government that is seen to have failed its women. “If a woman wants to go out at 2 or 3 a.m. in the night for whatever reason, her security has to be guaranteed,” says Sucheta Dey, a protester at Jantar Mantar on Monday afternoon. “There is insecurity at every level. Women are even harassed when they go to police stations to report sexual-violence reports.”

The spiraling protests had started a week back at New Delhi’s India Gate — a high-security area that abuts the Indian Parliament, the President’s palace and the Prime Minister’s residence. On Sunday, the protests — which had till then been peaceful — turned violent; some 3,000 protesters fought a pitched battle with the police, who tear-gassed and water-cannoned the crowd. They uprooted wooden poles that had been erected for Republic Day celebrations Jan. 26 and set them on fire, trashed vehicles and pelted the police with stones and water bottles. About 143 people were injured, including 78 policemen, one of whom, a police constable named Subhas Tomar, died in the hospital later. Home Minister Sushil Shinde told an Indian news channel that hooligans had joined genuine protesters and had damaged public property, forcing the police to take action.

The protests held the capital hostage for almost a week, drawing the otherwise elusive Prime Minister Manmohan Singh out of his quiet seclusion to address the nation on Monday. He said there was “genuine and justified anger and anguish at this ghastly incident” but appealed for calm and assured that “all possible efforts” would be taken to ensure security and safety of women in the country. “We will examine without delay not only the responses to this terrible crime but also all aspects concerning the safety of women and children and punishment to those who commit these monstrous crimes,” Prime Minister Singh said in a statement on Sunday. “I appeal to all sections of society to maintain peace and help us in our efforts.”

Part of the anger directed toward the government is a consequence of the nation’s declining conviction rate in rape cases (down from 44% in 1973 to 26% in 2010). This increased impunity, critics say, points to a systemic failing of the police forces, who do not treat rape as a serious crime. A sting carried out by the Indian magazine Tehelka in April interviewed 30 policemen, out of whom 17 had insisted that a majority of rape claims are either false or consensual. “In case after case, I have seen apathy and insensitivity,” says Rajat Mitra, director of Swanchetan, a New Delhi–based nonprofit that works with victims of abuse, violence and trauma. “The administration and lawmakers mostly see [rape] as a political issue where the event sullies the reputation of those in power.”

Meanwhile, the protests shut down the capital at the beginning of this week and turned it into a maze of diverted traffic and closed roads. Nine major metro stations were closed to deter demonstrators from reaching protest venues. The entry to India Gate and Raisina Hill — where the protests had turned violent on Sunday — was closed to traffic, and activists were asked to shift to the grounds of Jantar Mantar, long the designated spot for dissent. The streets were lined with young people making their way to the venue. At Jantar Mantar, hundreds of young people sat in a neat, ever expanding circle. As the protests got louder, the unequivocal demand seemed to be the hanging of the rapists, a call that has become a politicized talking point in India for the past week. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party led the demand for capital punishment in the Parliament two days after the incident. “What is the government doing to curb rape cases in the capital?” opposition leader Sushma Swaraj had asked. “The rapists should be hanged; we need tougher laws to stop rapes.” Others have called for chemical castration for the rapists, claiming death or life imprisonment would be too easy a punishment for the heinous crime.

In India, rape is as yet not punishable by the death penalty. Public fury and political pressure has led the government to consider an amendment to the rape law, which could see “rarest of rare” cases of rape being punished by death. However, a statement released by women’s groups on Christmas Eve says there is scant evidence that the death penalty can act as a deterrent and in fact the death penalty might lower the conviction rate even further as it will be given out only under the “rarest of rare” circumstances. The most important deterrent is the certainty of punishment, rather than the severity of its form, activists say. “People want the rapists to be hanged because of anger and because of the impunity enjoyed by rapists in our country,” says Kavita Krishnan, secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association. “Out of 100 cases only 26 are punished, and that is shocking. Laws are archaic. There is need for overhauling the system and ending the impunity.”

And while the government waits for the report of the commission it appointed to review India’s sexual-assault laws, the clock ticks away. The 23-year-old victim is in critical but stable condition, with reports on Wednesday saying she was being relocated to a hospital in Singapore for further treatment. The days and months to come will no doubt witness some enhanced safety protocols to protect women, particularly at night — but whether that translates into long-term change in a country where a rape takes place every 20 minutes is far from certain. After all, safety, as Krishnan says, is a loaded word. “What women [in India] need is freedom without fear, and that can only come when they feel that the government and its institutions are with them all the way.”

woman -beings are still trivialized in all aspects - in all countries. We are still living in a male dominated society where men are simply not adequately punished - this deeply rooted in our cultures and religion. Woman are still treated as the enemy and with root off men's bad behaviour. When will this end??

Rape is the most underreported crime. But it is also the most lied about crime. What will be the punishment for a rape accusation that is a lie? They happen due to revenge for being ignored, envy, and so on. In the United States, lying accusers are never punished.

STILL NEED REPORT FROM WHOM.? GOD ALMIGHTY MUST BE HAVING FUN KE MAINEE INSAAN KYOO BANYA AUR INKO POLITICS KAOUN SIKKAYA..... HAVE MERCEY ON NIRBHAYA LET HER REST IN PEACE........ONLY JUSTICE WILL GIVE HER R.I.P AND HER BOY FRIEND AND HER FAMILY .....HELP KAROO IN LAGOO PAR...DESIRE IS CAUSE OF SUFFERING.....ESA

I think you will find that 99% of Indians support the death penalty for rapists. And in a case like this one, involving horrific sadistic torture, I think virtually all Indians will want to disembowel them first before killing them. You must have seen the "chop them into 3 pieces" with a description of the pieces. That's the specific punishment that seems to be most popular based on the signs I see and the public interviews on TV. I think in this case execution is a done deal. Most people, including me, are upset that the 6th accused who is said to be 17.5 years old might escape death on account of being a minor. However, he was the most sadistic of them and should absolutely be tried as an adult. BTW the remaining 1% are softies who oppose the death penalty no matter what. Their view may be heartfelt but will get them lynched most places in India today just given how angry people are. The *only* thing that gives me pause about the application of death for rape is the argument that it creates an incentive to kill the rape victim. I don't completely buy that though. And I absolutely do not believe the idea that death is not a deterrent. I think it absolutely is and in any case it's a justifiable punishment for an act as horrific as rape.

Execute the gang. Indian prisons are overflowing. There are calls in India for sexual assault courts. That means rapes are common, especially by the powerful. I hope that the estates of the bus driver and the gang will used to educate young men to learn to honour individual rights, freedom, and sanctity of life.

I do not agree that the guilty should be executed, that would just make it too easy for the Indian Goverment and the guilty parties. They should be made to suffer in prison for the rest of their lives. This should be a punishment that the guilty will have to live with until they die in prison. This will hopefully shame the Indian Goverment to get their finger our of their ears and change the laws and attitudes of the Indian people, to rid their own society of this totally uacceptable and disgusting plague that should have been tackled many years ago. This needs to be done in the quickest time possible, seeing as there is a rape in India every 14 minutes. I just wonder how long it will take our goverment and Prime Minister to anything to ensure things happen quickly and try and let it ride it out until the media and everyone else has forgotten about it. If they do nothing the question they will need to answer will be WHY when the envitable will happen and the same story with a different victim.

India proves NOTHING by executing these "suspects" . I call them "suspects" because I have no faith in India's legal system. India doesn't even have faith in its legal system, and that's a reason why executions are rare there. India would end up executing a bunch of innocent people due to poor police work or poor representation of the accused. Seems like an attempt to take focus off the fact that a group of men can do this on public transit without any police anywhere to stop it nor other citizens to prevent it (call the police immediately?!) -- If they're going to start executing things, it should a be a fix to the environment/mentality that allows gang rape to occur in public while fellow citizens (Bus driver?!) do nothing about it.

I don't think that the death penalty is the answer to this horrible problem. Whether or not it will help, debate it, study it, that's fine. But if the "apathy and insensitivity" as mentioned in the article continues, the punishment will not matter as there will still be no real effort to investigate and capture rapists. Why be afraid of a severe punishment if you won't be caught anyway?

I think they should be executed but I'm concerned that the government will use that as an excuse not to take more meaningful long term steps to foster social change. These rapes didn't occur in a vacuum. As in any patriarchy.. the real fight for women's safety will take perseverance and constant pressure from the people.

I am deeply hurt. Considering that this is not just another incident but atrend, Indian government must execute all of them. Otherwise let them free inthe public to do the same to them if the maximum penalty is life sentence. Onlythis way crowd will calm down and other people withe rape attitudes get anunforgetble lesson.

I knew India as a democratic country. Come on, Let me prove it to myself again and others too.

Death is not the answer a comission where Indian women can reveal their rapists in full confidentiality and public rape database (with full investigation by a special police taskforce independant from the existing biased one where onus of proof is on the defendant. More women politicians in India, greater maternity rights for women to keep their children in divorces as well as payments by husband to take care of their children, antidiscriminatory practices in India with multimillion dollar fines for companies that harress or refuse to give maternity leave, government funding for women to enter into male dominated professions and strong punishments for those who rape or beat their wives. These are just some of the things that need to happen. Men in schools should be educated on womens rights. Also a day of shame should be created where all Indian men can reflect on the horrors of the abuse of women and the high abortion rates of girls.

India especially the north has become a wretched place for women. It is very common to hear stories of women being burnt alive , poisoned or raped by father in-laws for not paying a dowry. The police often do not vigorously pursue such cases. The result is amongst the Hindus the male to female ratio is horrendously skewed as 100s of millions of female babies are murdered and the Indian population now has many millions of men to women. Humanitarian organisations have used statistics to show that both Christians and Muslims have slightly greater female to male ratios which is normal. What is happening in India is potentially the worst genocide of female babies since the one child policy in China. These rapes are a manifestation of the lower female population and higher male population as well as a strong underlying discrimination against women (male dominated corporations are quite evident of this bias). Who is at fault - all Indians are we did not stand up for women when we could have and for our inaction and sin , Indian society and those who live there have passed to their children no opportunity to get married and increased threat of rapes, increased prostitution as marriage becomes harder and greater suffering all round. Some of The posts here make me ill because they put the blame on Western society and the sexualisation of the media or the unruly protesters none of these parties are at fault the blame lies with us indian men and will do so forevermore.

It is truly impressive that a country as beautiful as India would not provide tougher legislation to prevent this type of tragedy. Why would women be inflicted to these atrocious crime ,and let those criminals to lightly charged of these abusive actions. Not only it will encourage more rape crimes, and let the criminals run at large.

Additionally, women rights should be implemented and respected, otherwise New Delhi Gang Rape will become an everyday act.

Manmohan Singh government is a disgrace. Term Limits is the only solution for bringing back democracy from hereditary rulers like nehru-gandhis (central govt), yadavs (UP and Bihar), karunanidhis (Tamilnadu), reddys (AP), badals (Punjab), scindias (Madhya Pradesh and rajasthan), pilots(rajasthan), gowdas and bangarappas(Karnataka), abdullahs (J&K), patnaiks (Odisha), ramadosses (Tamilnadu), thackerays and pawars (Maharashtra), chautalas (Haryana) and list goes on and on at all levels with these people keeping the seat warm for their offspring and indulging in all kinds atrocities to perpetuate their power. Hereditary politics is not democracy. Term Limits result in better law and order and prevention of rapes and murders and land grabs. Indians - look around you, if you don't step up and make this change, you'll end up like af-pak-bangla-lanka-mid-east countries and fail for another 1000 years. It is your choice, make term limits amendment the only election issue in 2014

It is too bad that the young lady has to struggle for her life and may lose her battle soon in this gang rape episode, which could have been avoided if the police force and civilians could have played their role. But it is wise to continue this rape case for days and weeks and paralyses the nation allowing goons and hooligans to damage millions of rupees worth public properties? Yes, rape and atrocities towards women are heinous acts but just by making new laws it will be stopped? Such sex criminals are not born today or this year but they are there during the Ram Rajya and jails of the world are filled with such criminals. Even in America such sex criminals are carrying out their sinful acts in broad day light everyday and many hundreds women are getting killed but public is not taking laws in their hands. If India wants to be a world power and democratic leader, such social issues and other political issues need to be discussed and resolve in the Parliament and not on the streets. The political parties and some social organizations, just to take full advantage of such delicate issues, encourage public protests, which many times become violent and harm the general public and nation in many ways. Also, sex violence, rapes and related crimes are not going to reduce just by inserting few laws but the culture of SEX glorification must also be controlled from public life, T.V., Movies and media, otherwise, such crimes are going to increase ten fold in coming years. For proof, look to the West, you will get the answer.

I share some of the sentiments that GuntherL1 has mentioned regarding the underlying cause. But I agree that execution is not the answer. Call me a sadist, but executing them will only put an peaceful end to their pathetic lives; instead their organs should be cut off in the public and hung.

I am not in favour of the death penalty. That would just be a method to 'solve' the problem and forget about the underlying causes. These people should be locked up for a very long time, maybe even permanently. That would be a very good signal. I am more interested in the underlying causes and what can be done about it.

In general, rape is caused by a power inbalance. It's still very visible in India. Pre-arranged marriages, abortions on baby girls, itall points to a low status for Indian women. Religion also appears to be a problem. The occurrence of rape in more atheist countries is very low. Also, the looser sexual morals, the lower the number of rapes. India is still very strict compared to most western countries.

Additionally, India has a shortage of women, which leaves a large number of men frustrated. At the end of the day, this will become a plus for Indian women. The surplus of Indian men will force them to let go of their status and make a bigger effort towards women. Indian women are quickly becoming more independent and they will not take this any longer. In history, positive changes were often preceded by a horrible event. Let this hideous crime be the start of a better and safer life of many Indian women.

@GuntherL1 Incorrect though, as there is absolutely a lot of commentary about this. However you are conflating two distinct things. On the one hand are changes in social norms which is going to take years and will probably never be complete (just look at the US Senator Akins' comments about legitimate rape and lots of other such comments from senior figures in the West - not to bring up the Church which is solidly misogynistic). This is what is getting Abhijit and others skewered on TV because Indian youth have largely moved on to a much more feminist viewpoint. You must have also seen all the signs ('don't teach your daughters what to wear, teach your sons not to rape'). However, India has simply lost patience with all this education talk, especially from leadership. We want security for women immediately, i.e. tomorrow. This can be done with a much more harsher law - fast-track death penalty for rape would be a good start - and with accountable policing. The media and the people get to talk about social change. Leadership does NOT get to say 'society will change and then we will fix this problem.' India was more misogynistic 40 years ago yet gangrapes like this were unheard of. What happened? Social mobility and internal migrations have exposed lack of proper policing and accountability.

@IneffAble Oh, one more thing. These are definitely not just suspects. Their guilt is established beyond a shade of a doubt. There is CCTV coverage, eyewitness testimony (the assaulted male companion survived), corroboration by the families of the assailants, evasion of law (they are all recent immigrants to Delhi like the majority of such attackers, who then quickly leave Delhi and flee to their home villages - the vast majority are untraceable after that because India lacks a consistent national ID system), victim testimony (which she gave twice to a magistrate before she died). The only open question is whether the sixth and most sadistic attacker (who was the one that disembowelled her and stabbed her abdomen with a screwdriver) is really a minor. His stated age is 17.5 years and police, which is very efficient at beating journalists and extorting bribes from citizens, has been unable to get a certified birthdate for him. If he escapes the death penalty, there's going to be massive unrest in the country. People are not going to take this anymore.

@IneffAble Very inaccurate analysis. Gang rapes of this sort rarely happened in Delhi or elsewhere 40 years ago. Are you arguing that the mentality of people at large was more women-friendly 40 years ago than it is right now? That makes no sense at all. Basically what you are seeing is anarchy. The police is one gang in this anarchic situation. They were established in the colonial period to protect British administrators and are now used to protect politicians. The economist had a nice analysis of it - there are 20 police people per VIP and virtually none for ordinary citizens (I think it is one-fourth of the global average or something like that). This was a violent gang of 6 men - the driver was very much an assailant himself. They taunted the couple before they attacked them. The man stepped forward to confront them. He was beaten senseless with an iron rod and stripped. Then they assaulted the woman. She died because of the horrific assault with the same iron rod which was slammed into her and pulled out so hard that her intestines came out. Then they dumped them on the flyover and many of them fled Delhi. The police came and argued about jurisdiction while these two bleeding naked people lay on the street in near-freezing weather. People in Delhi are terrified of the police. I can attest to the fact personally that if you call them for help they enmesh you in the case and extort money. This is why even doctors will not touch a person who has been in an accident in Delhi - hundreds die this way every year. There is standard terminology for it in India - "police case". If you are someone that is injured in something that is a "police case", you're on your own. This is also why Indian politicians are unable to understand the anger on the street. They and their families are living in a protected cocoon, much as the British were. Many of them probably view themselves as not really being of the same population. If you watch Arnab Goswami's news show, he has brought on 5 cases now where men who stepped forward to assist women were brutally murdered and the cases are still pending for years and decades.

@SigTurner My feeling and view precisely. This rape-torture-killing on a moving bus (public transit) is so gruesome that there is no redemption possible. And the perpetrators were allegedly young, one a minor. The victim, who the The Times of India is finally assigning a first name — "Nirbhaya," sustained terrible, gross injuries to multiple internal organs, as is now (at long last) being reported in India. When India owns up to this most heinous crime by fully naming the hitherto invisible victim (and her monstrous assailants), it will be a first, small but important step in dealing with the reality — not the Bollywood version — of this crime and so many more sexual hate crimes against women and girls in India. Full disclosure and transparency are long overdue. The public, and Indian women and girls in particular, must demand the truth be told. After all, isn't India's motto: "Satyameva Jayate" — Truth Alone Triumphs.

@sentrypetal Is it counterintuitive to think that a scarcity of women would up their value and caché, not the opposite? What's behind the misogyny? The victim, whose full name remains a state secret (literally), is reported to be a Hindu, but her assailants names and origins have oddly not yet been disclosed, even though they are now charged with murder (only one of them is reported to be a minor). Hindus — with the apparent skewed male to female ratio — are more prevalent in the south of India, why, then, is the north of the country such "a wretched place for women"? Does it have something to do with the drug problems in the north of India? Please inform. Thank you.

@disqus12 Absolutely! And Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should be leading the charge in tackling the rule of law for the safety of women — he is a Sikh; it is his duty thrice over. He is also the father of three accomplished women. The tone and tenor of the nation should be set from the top leadership— not Bollywood!

@JohnDahodi Yes, why don't you look at the West? In sex-glorified Western Europe where women are actually allowed to choose their partner, police will take rape claims seriously and public transport is a lot safer for women than in India. The US is slightly different. Due to their promotion of abstinence, they deny millions of young people a healthy sex life and I haven't brought up the guilt that is imposed on them because of their stupid religion. That's an accident waiting to happen.

By the way, I checked some statistics. You know the countries with the most internet searches on the word 'sex'?

@GuntherL1 Is the gender imbalance most pronounced with Hindus, Gunther? This victim, "Nirbhaya," as she is now being called by The Times of India, was Hindu, it was reported. But her assailants names and affiliations (religion) have not been disclosed, even though they are now charged with murder (only one of them is a minor). Scarcity usually ups value and caché. Women in the imbalanced populations should be revered not reviled, you would think. A vicious, gruesome crime like this must be driven by tremendous anger and frustration, n'est-ce pas?

@mohan_dudha@GuntherL1I believe that your argument that India was more misogynistic 40 years ago is false - refer to the female to male sex ratios in my comments below - india and jains, hindus and sikhs in particular are aborting females in a scale unprecedented in history. This only shows that misogyny is the highest its ever been in India so high that parents would rather kill their female children than raise them. It will get worst as time passes as men do not have female partners to get married to. Expect increases in prostitution, rape and social upheaval in India's future.

@SVjeunefille@SigTurner The monstrous assailants have long been named with the one exception of the minor. Of course, he should be tried as an adult and that is what people are demanding. The victim's dad was on TV today and said the family would be willing to reveal her name if they name the new harsher law after her. The national commission on women has opposed naming her btw - the chief in charge explained that on TV too but I didn't think her logic was coherent. I think both interviews can be found on YT. The Dad is from Balia. One newspaper actually named her already (Jyoti Pande, I believe) but the family's opposing name disclosure until a law is passed. Her dad's interview is worth watching. He talks about how proud he is of her and how they taught all their kids never to submit to being pushed around. He says he is proud of how she fought back and how hard she struggled to live. He says that her last wish was that the attackers be hanged and how the family wants it too. See the interview. It will move you to tears. Also see the interview of her companion who was also beaten, stripped and dumped naked. He talks about just how despicable and uncaring the police was. Everyone's calling her India's daughter and Braveheart. BTW the politicians *want* her named as quickly as possible, because she will become easier to contain. They will peg her to a caste and region and limit the uprising.

@SVjeunefille @sentrypetal misogyny means hatred towards women I do not possess such infact I believe a balanced society where women play a strong role is important. Anyway Google it and here are the states with the best female to male ratios vs the states with the worst female to male ratios notice how rape and poverty is common in the states with low female to male ratios. My opinion is that education and empowerment of women makes society richer and happier.

@SVjeunefille That's a good question. If they would prove to be muslims, I wouldn't be surprised at all. Their contempt for women comes straight out of their holy book. It's important to note that the gender imbalance also exists in China, where men generally treat women a lot better. Shouldn't we investigate why?

It bothers me that the majority of the comments are about how the culprits should be killed or tortured. In my home country, similar criminals are locked up and forgotten about by society. It's the worst punishment they can experience.

It is much more important that rape occurs so frequently in Indian cities, women are not heard by the authorities and (according to an article on this site) Indian women are the most stressed in the world. It points to misogyny and that's the fundamental point. Women need to fight back. In the western world, women's rights have improved after a popular struggle. India could be next. Indian women have to force men to treat them better. The only way to do this, is to make Indian men choose. More respect or no marriage at all. Fight pre-arranged marriages and the dowry and look abroad. You might find men that will treat you like you want to be treated. Mixed marriages always enrich society. I understand that these changes do not occur overnight, but you have to start now.

And of course... whatever religion... Your brain will always be more moral and just than any religion. Trust your own power of judgment. Religions are power systems to keep you in check. No proof of god(s) and no proof of an afterlife. You have to cherish your life here and now. Treat others well and make sure others treat you well.

@mohan_dudha@sentrypetalI see you did not fully read my comment so i shall try and simplify my point: Kerela has 1,084 females to every 1000 men, Puducherry has 1,038 females to every 1000 men Tamil Nadu has 995 females to 1000 men Andhra Pradesh has 992 females to every 1000 men Chhattisgarh has 991 females to every 1000 men.

In contrast Daman & Diu 618Dadra & Nagar Haveli 775 females to every 1000 men Chandigarh 818 females to every 1000 men NCT of
Delhi 866 females to every 1000 men A & N Islands 878 females to every 1000 men. Notice how rape is higher among states with less females to males. Also the christian and muslim populations have more females to males than the national average - the worst offenders are Jains, Sheiks and Hindus who are aborting girls on a scale unprecedented in this world. Hope this clarifies my position.

@sentrypetal Infact the gender ratio in Haryana and Punjab are so skewed that they are importing brides from Kerala now. See the BBC article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13331808 - the Keralite brides complain about the purdah system too, which they say was only practiced by Muslims in their state. Northern Hindus are actually quite Islamicized in their social practices and the traditional society there emphasizes separation of men and women, which is a very bad thing socially. It's breaking down rapidly though with the emergence of dating, mall culture, nightclubs and such things even in tier C (i.e. pretty small in the Indian system) cities. India is headed towards a far more liberal situation but it's going to take time. In the meantime, just because some sections of society are blinkered is *zero* excuse for rapes and assaults of women. India isn't more misogynistic than Saudi Arabia, so why are their no such incidences there? Because it is a better policed society.

@NandaKishoreN@GuntherL1 There we go again. Shout and insult when your views are challenged. It's all in your mind. There is no proof of any god. Just give me one tiny shred of evidence that there is a god. Not about feeling, sensing or believing anything, but actual evidence.

@GuntherL1@SVjeunefille I think all this is already happening. It's not something that you need to force. Just look at the demonstrations. Aren't you heartened by the fact that half or more of the demonstrators are men - always and without exception. I can also tell you that the vast majority of these people date in one form or another. Even look at popular movies - the whole cultural context has changed radically. Even in small towns you see malls, discos and people dating. The emerging India is actually extremely western in its outlook. You will also see rising divorce and kids out of wedlock. Politicians and policing in India has not caught up with this. The marriage bar between Hindus and Muslims has more or less evaporated among urban youth in many parts of India. Look at Bigg Boss. The person getting the most votes to be saved from eviction is Imam, an openly gay Muslim man. One massive issue in India is the partial disenfranchisement of this urban youth. Urban population is around 35% while the number of urban seats is around 15% - which was demarcated when India was a much more rural country. This is one HUGE reason why politicians are non-responsive to urban concerns. There needs to be redistricting of constituencies based on population.